Poland's Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said on Thursday he has asked the United States whether the European nation could buy Tomahawk missiles for its new submarines. "One of the capabilities we want them (the submarines) to have is cruise missiles," Siemoniak told public radio, following a report by daily newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. Siemoniak also said around 10,000 NATO soldiers will take part in military exercises in Poland this year,

This video sequence filmed on 27 January 2015 offshore California near San Nicolas Island shows a Tomahawk Block IV missile launched from USS Kidd (DDG 100) and then followed by an F/A-18 until it eventually plows through a stack of containers stacked atop a moving ship. This is the first time a Tomahawk missile has been used to hit a moving maritime target, according to the U.S. Navy.

The Obama administration stopped shipping to Israel all defense items – and not just Hellfire missiles as previously reported – for a short time in the middle of the war against Hamas, reported Israel Defense’s Amir Rappaport, the well-informed and highly credibly editor of the website. Makor Rishon added to that report that the US actually cut off all communications with Israel’s Ministry of Defense purchasing offices in the US for days.

Last August 14 the Wall Street Journal reported that, in July, after Israel had launched Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, Washington had surprised Israel by turning down an Israeli request for “a large number of Hellfire missiles.” Hellfires are an important air-to-surface precision weapon, suited to the kind of warfare Israel was waging against Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza. But as Amir Rapaport, a veteran Israeli military-affairs writer and editor of the Israel Defense site, now reports: The full truth…is much more severe: apparently, during Operation Protective Edge, the USA had completely stopped all connections with Israel’s defense...

Revealed: U.S. Cut Off Arms Supply to Israel During Gaza WarPosted By P. David Hornik On October 22, 2014 @ 12:50 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 11 Comments Last August 14 the Wall Street Journal reported that, in July, after Israel had launched Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, Washington had surprised Israel by turning down an Israeli request for “a large number of Hellfire missiles.” Hellfires are an important air-to-surface precision weapon, suited to the kind of warfare Israel was waging against Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza.But as Amir Rapaport, a veteran Israeli military-affairs writer and editor...

TEL AVIV — The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to reduce military coproduction with the United States. A leading Israeli analyst asserted that the Defense Ministry and the military agreed to reduce production of Israeli weapons and platforms in the United States. The analyst, Amir Rapaport, said the decision was based on the U.S. suspension of arms deliveries during the 50-day war with Hamas in July and August 2014. “The Israeli defense establishment will reduce the production of weapon systems in the USA in the context of joint Israeli-American projects, and will rely more heavily on Israeli-made products,”...

A hatchet-wielding attacker charged a group of New York City police officers posing for a photograph on Thursday, wounded two, one critically, before the assailant was shot dead, police said. The officers were on foot patrol when they were asked by a freelance photographer to pose for a picture on a Queens street at about 2 p.m., a New York Police Department spokesman said. Suddenly a man carrying a hatchet charged the officers, swinging it and striking one officer in the right arm and then swinging it again and striking a second officer in the head, the spokesman said.

National Defense: The president launches attacks on the Islamic State with two weapons systems that were targeted for elimination by the administration years before their usefulness ended or any replacements were ready. With the decision to launch air and missile strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, in addition to ongoing strikes in Iraq in what is said to be the start of a long and sustained campaign to "degrade and destroy" the terrorist group, President Obama has stumbled upon a revelation: The military whose budgets he's slashed and weapons systems he opposed is suddenly quite useful. As the Washington...

<p>Weapons procurement showed striking reductions from last yearâ€™s plans. Then, the Navy planned to buy 980 Tactical Tomahawks, the primary cruise missile in use throughout the fleet. The new plan shows only 100 missiles in 2015 and none thereafter.</p>
<p>The reduction reflects shifting investment to a new next-generation land attack weapon, said Lt. Caroline Hutcheson, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon, who also noted that the current inventory of Block IV Tactical Tomahawks exceeds combat requirements. A recertification line for existing missiles will be established to retain effectiveness of current TacToms, she added.</p>

This ainâ€™t your daddyâ€™s libertarian. More to the point, this ainâ€™t his daddyâ€™s libertarian.First he went after Ted Cruz for trying to characterize him as a dove, now this. By the end of the year, he and McCain will be holding joint filibusters on the Senate floor demanding that America build the biggest nuclear bomb evah. Rand Paul, hawk? In the current budget, the Obama Administration called for the elimination of the Tomahawk missile. This missile protects our troops and allows us to avoid much direct person-to-person combat. Our navy has depended heavily on themâ€¦Nobody wants to cut spending, including...

President Barack Obama is proposing drastically cutting, and then eliminating, two missile programs pivotal to U.S. security, The Washington Free Beacon reported. The Tomahawk and Hellfire missiles are on the chopping block, according to Obama's budget proposal, which will cut by $128 million the Tactical Tomahawk in 2015 and eliminate it completely after that. ... It's a major turnabout from last year, when the Navy planned to buy 980 Tactical Tomahawks, the primary cruise missile in use throughout the fleet, according to Defense News. In 2015, the Navy would buy just 100 Tomahawks, the last the branch would purchase. The...

Obama Seeking to Abolish Tomahawk, Hellfire Missile Programs by Debra Heine 24 Mar 2014 947post a comment Share This: 143 281 Obama is doing that thing again that he loves to do, "which is surrender whatever advantages the country has – whichever advantages, wherever we dominate...." The president is seeking to cut two highly successful missile programs, which defense experts say have helped the U.S. Navy maintain military superiority for the past several decades. Obama's proposal they say would leave us with no functioning Tomahawk missiles past 2018. Via the Washington Free Beacon: The Tomahawk missile program—known as “the world’s...

Let’s start with a simple question. What happens when a soldier runs out of ammunition during a firefight? First, he either retreats, or he quickly becomes killed, wounded or captured. Second, his tactical position converts from active to indefensible which imperils the strategic array of the entire battlefield. What do you call a submarine that runs out of torpedoes? Missing in action. That’s an old Navy joke that dates back to WWII. However the fundamental military concept remains true: without the ability to attack your enemy and inflict serious damage, you’re unable to influence any subsequent events on the battlefield....

President Barack Obama is seeking to abolish two highly successful missile programs that experts say has helped the U.S. Navy maintain military superiority for the past several decades. The Tomahawk missile program—known as “the world’s most advanced cruise missile”—is set to be cut by $128 million under Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposal and completely eliminated by fiscal year 2016, according to budget documents released by the Navy. In addition to the monetary cuts to the program, the number of actual Tomahawk missiles acquired by the United States would drop significantly—from 196 last year to just 100 in 2015. The...

The Navy is working to make the Tomahawk missile a better bunker buster and allow it to distinguish targets on the move better. U.S. Central Command recently sponsored development and testing of a new, more penetrating Tomahawk warhead called the Joint Multiple Effects Warhead System, or JMEWS, according to Capt. Joe Mauser, Tomahawk program manager. Testing analyzed the ability of the programmable warhead to integrate onto the most advanced Block IV Tomahawk missile, a weapon which can loiter over targets, send back single frame images and change course in flight via a GPS guidance system. The JMEWS would give the...

"A pair of burglars in Southern California got more than they bargained for when they broke into the home of a champion tomahawk thrower this weekend. The woman armed herself with one of her special throwing axes and chased off the intruders. She said she could have killed them had she loosed her deadly weapons, but she could not bring herself to injure the fleeing burglars.

US Navy Instruction Confirms Retirement of Nuclear Tomahawk Cruise Missile The U.S. Navy has quietly removed the nuclear Tomahawk cruise missile from its inventory, a new Secretary of the Navy Instruction shows. By Hans M. Kristensen Although the U.S. Navy has yet to make a formal announcement that the nuclear Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile (TLAM/N) has been retired, a new updated navy instruction shows that the weapon is gone. The evidence comes not in the form of an explicit statement, but from what has been deleted from the U.S. Navy’s instruction Department of the Navy Nuclear Weapons Responsibilities and Authorities...

The control system for U.S. Navy Tomahawk cruise missiles is being upgraded by Lockheed Martin. The company, which didn't announce the monetary value of the modernization effort, said work will focus on the Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control System, which allows the preparation, control and launch of the missiles. The TTWCS is one of three prime components of the Tomahawk system. "Lockheed Martin is a key industry partner and continues to make significant and positive impacts directly supporting the Tomahawk Weapons System and our fleet sailors," said Navy Capt. Joe Mauser, Tomahawk program manager. "Lockheed Martin remains committed to enhancing the...

Jinxed submarine HMS Astute finally fires its first missile... and it went without a hitch Chris Slack The jinxed submarine HMS Astute has successfully fired its first missile during a test mission in the Gulf of Mexico, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed The submarine fired a series of Tomahawk missiles at up to 550 miles per hour, a spokeswoman confirmed. Each missile is 5.5-metres in length, weighs 1,300kg and has a range of 1,000 miles. The successful firing comes seven months after a crew member was killed during a shooting incident when the submarine was in dock at Southampton....

Navy Commemorates 2,000th Tomahawk Shot 8/3/2011 The Navy is scheduled to hold a commemorative ceremony aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) for the 2,000th Tomahawk cruise missile combat launch Aug. 5 at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. The event will recognize the USS Barry crewmembers for their role in launching the milestone missile March 19, against an air defense target in Libya, during Operation Odyssey Dawn. “It was a great feeling to have taken part in the 2,000th missile launch,” said Fire Controlman 3rd Class (SW) Luizous Houser, aboard USS Barry (DDG 52). “There were a lot of...

Tucson-made Tomahawk missiles rack up kills, bills Posted Mar 27, 2011, 12:08 pm Sharon Weinberger Center for Public Integrity In the opening days of the assault on Libya, the United States and the United Kingdom launched a barrage of at least 161 Tomahawk cruise missiles to flatten Moammar Gadhafi’s air defenses and pave the way for coalition aircraft. In fiscal terms, at a time when Congress is fighting over every dollar, the cruise missile show of military might was an expenditure of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. Each missile cost $1.41 million. Raytheon Corp. is the manufacturer of...

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) -- The U.S. and European nations pounded Moammar Gadhafi's forces and air defenses with cruise missiles and airstrikes Saturday, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war in support of an uprising that had seemed on the verge of defeat. Libyan state TV claimed 48 people had been killed in the attacks, but the report could not be independently verified. The longtime Libyan leader vowed to defend his country from what he called "crusader aggression" and warned the involvement of international forces will subject the Mediterranean and North African region to danger and put civilians...

The three panels show a 1986 test of a Tomahawk cruise missile. The missile traveled 640 km (400 mile) low over the terrain to detonate above the target, a decommissioned fighter plane. It’s pretty clear the test was a success.

In the last month, three of the four American SSGNs (former ballistic missile subs each now carrying 154 cruise missiles and SEAL commando teams) appeared in the Pacific and Indian oceans (the Philippines, South Korea and Diego Garcia). Some through this was a message for China, but, in fact, the SSGNs go where the potential trouble is. When questioned, U.S. Navy officials responded that, for the first time, all four SSGNs were operating at sea, in locations distant from their bases. Two years ago, the U.S. Navy completed the conversion of the last of four Ohio class ballistic missile submarines...

As the venerable Tomahawk missile becomes too vulnerable for certain targets, naval observers have wondered why the Navy isn’t racing to fill the U.S. surface fleet’s 7,804 Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells with a new generation of anti-ship or fast land-attack munitions. Our wait is over. The big brains at DARPA are aiming to appropriate VLS cells for the Prompt Global Strike Mission. Meet ArcLight–the weapon that will change the way the world thinks about U.S. surface combatants: “The ArcLight program will design, build, and flight test a long range (> 2,000 nm) vehicle that carries a 100–200 lb payload(s)....

The guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) successfully launched two Tomahawk missiles during a weeklong weapons training exercise in the Pacific Ocean June 21-25. "The missile launch was a success," said Pablo Dasalla, lead platform test coordinator, who was on board to observe the launch. According to Dasalla, the planning required to launch a Tomahawk missile takes three to four months to coordinate. The coordination involves mission planning, approval from different organizations, scheduling of range time and fulfilling requirements prior to the missile launch. The ship's crew has been preparing for the past four months to maintain its mission readiness...

Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Cheyenne (SSN-773) in conjunction with Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet and members of Naval Special Warfare Group (NSWG) 3 successfully fired a Block IV-E Tomahawk Land Attack Missile. The missile launch took place off the southern coast of California into China Lake Test Range and marks the first time a forward-deployed operational command acted as the Tomahawk strike coordinator and primary missile controller for an operational test launch. "The Navy's ability to conduct strike operations on re-locatable targets is currently very challenging," said Master Chief Fire Controlman (SW) David Brewer, U.S. 7th Fleet Tomahawk strike coordinator....

THE United States will retire its sea-based nuclear Tomahawk missiles within a few years, believing it has other ways to defend North-east Asia, a Pentagon official said on Wednesday. The elimination of the missile - supported in the past by some policymakers in Japan and South Korea - was part of a policy shift announced on Tuesday by President Barack Obama's administration to reduce the role of nuclear weapons. 'The timeline for its retirement will be over the next two to three years,' James Miller, the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, told a news conference. He said that...

British Navy’s nuclear-powered submarine HMS Triumph is ready to set sail for sea trials after being refurbished for six years. The vessel will undergo extensive sea trial for three months before being commissioned in the Royal Navy for a second time. The submarine has been retrofitted at a cost of £300m ($455 million). Capability improvements include installation of latest sonar systems and an upgrade for the Tomahawk land attack cruise missile system. The vessel has also been equipped with a new command and control system, a new internal fibre optic computer systems network and enhanced satellite communications system. Its safety...

The U.S. Navy has now received 2000 of the new Tomahawk (BGM-109) Block 4 missiles, since production began five years ago. The Block 4s cost about $1.7 million each. The missile weighs 1.4 tons, has a range of 1,500 kilometers and carries a half ton warhead. It moves to its target at a speed of 880 kilometers an hour. The original Tomahawk was introduced 26 years ago, and nearly 7,000 have been manufactured. The U.S. Navy has fired nearly 2,000 in combat and training. The Block 4s are also getting upgraded so that they can hit moving targets. This is...

The United States has informally told Japan it will retire its sea-based Tomahawk cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads, in line with President Barack Obama's policy to pursue a world free of atomic weapons, government sources said Monday. Washington said the move would not affect the nuclear umbrella, addressing concerns in Tokyo about the step's effect on U.S. deterrence against potential attacks from China, North Korea or other countries, the sources said. The retirement will probably be stipulated in the Nuclear Posture Review, a new nuclear strategic guideline the Obama administration is slated to submit to Congress next month, they said....

Todd Crowell Japan’s Covert Moves to Save The Endangered Tomahawk To listen to disarmament specialists, the country that is raising the most serious obstacles to new moves to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in defense strategy is Japan. Japan? Is this not the nation with the famous nuclear allergy? Is it not the nation that loudly reminds everyone that it is the only country on the globe to suffer an atomic attack? Is it not the country that loudly proclaims the “Three Noes” (Never to manufacture, possess or allow nuclear weapons onto its soil)? No country is more vocal...

U.S. Submarines Could Retain Nuclear-Armed Cruise Missiles Friday, July 31, 2009 An ongoing review of the U.S. nuclear weapons posture might call for the country to continue arming some of its attack submarines with nuclear-tipped Tomahawk cruise missiles, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, March 24). Washington will look to friendly nations to help decide whether to retire the weapons, a high-level U.S. official told Kyodo News. Japan has asked the United States to consult with partner governments before rolling back any nonstrategic nuclear-weapon deployments, according to the news service. One U.S. ally has expressed support for the missiles' deterrent value,...

Spain – Block IV Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (Source: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency; dated June 3, web-posted June 4, 2008) WASHINGTON --- The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Spain of Block IV Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $156 million. The Government of Spain has requested a possible sale of 20 RGM-109E Block IV Surface Ship Vertical Launched Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, 5 Tactical Tomahawk weapon control systems hardware and software, canisters, containers,...

U.S. forces found, targeted and killed in a Somali desert city the senior al Qaeda operative who masterminded the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa and had since spent a decade in hiding, The Washington Times has learned. Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who is one of the FBI's most-wanted terrorists, was the target of a U.S. missile strike on a residence in Dobley, a small town in southern Somalia near the Kenyan border, according to a U.S. military official who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity because of the nature of the operation.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States on Monday used precision missiles to strike a "known terrorist target" in southern Somalia, a U.S. military official said. The strike near Dhoobley, which is close to the Kenyan border, was aimed at a "facility where there were known terrorists" affiliated with East African al Qaeda operations, according to the official. News agency reports from the region are saying civilians were killed in the attack, but the official said the United States still is collecting post-strike information and is not yet able to confirm any details about casualties. The U.S. military official described Monday's...

An American missile ship set to dock at Haifa Port on Monday is equipped with an anti-missile defense system that could be deployed in the region in the event of an Iranian missile attack against Israel. The USS San Jacinto is an AEGIS cruiser in the Ticonderoga Class and was commissioned in 1988. It carries the most advanced underwater surveillance system available today and is equipped with the AEGIS missile defense system, which was developed by Lockheed Martin to protect against aircraft and missiles. The ship will remain in Haifa for three days. While the IDF developed and operates the...

Cruise control: successful launch sees UK ready for Tomahawk Block IV missile 09 August 2007 By Richard Scott At precisely 0913 h local time on 21 June 2007, a submarine-launched Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile slammed into a simulated target site at the Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) land test range, Florida, concluding a 650 n mile test flight begun in the Gulf of Mexico 75 minutes earlier. Discharged from one of the five torpedo tubes in the bow of HMS Trenchant, a UK Royal Navy (RN) Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN), the missile had broached, transitioned to cruise flight,...

Fearless Tomahawk-type missile on radar SUJAN DUTTA New Delhi, July 19: Indian defence scientists have taken up a new cruise missile development programme. The missile named Nirbhay (The Fearless) is in the same class as the US’s Tomahawk and will have a range that is 300km longer than Pakistan’s Babur. Nirbhay is India’s seventh missile development project after the Agni series, the Prithvi series, Brahmos (in a joint venture with Russia), Akash, Trishul and Nag. The last three were part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme founded by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Nirbhay is being developed alongside Astra, an air-to-air...

A new hi-tech long-range land attack missile has been successfully fired by a Devonport-based submarine. The new 'smart' Block IV Tomahawk missile was fired during a live firing trial off the US coast. The 5,200 tonne attack submarine HMS Trenchant used one of her torpedo tubes to launch the missile, which then flew over the Gulf of Mexico, striking a target hundreds of miles away with pin-point accuracy. During the 60-minute test fight the missile reached heights of 10,000 feet and speeds of 500 miles an hour. The enhanced weapon will improve the long-range precision capability of the Royal Navy...

Dutch Govt Drops Plan to Buy Missiles Monday May 14, 1:15 pm ET Dutch Defense Ministry Shelves Plans to Buy Tomahawk Missiles AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- The Dutch defense minister said Monday he has shelved plans to buy 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles to save money. "For the coming four years I do not plan to buy this weapon for the navy," Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop told reporters in Brussels, where he was attending a meeting. "I can use the money better elsewhere" he said. The planned purchase of Tomahawk missiles would have cost about 62 million euros ($84 million)...

Sub-Launched Tomahawk Missile Test A Smashing Success Sun, 08 Apr '07 Sources within the US Navy tell ANN the successful first test of a submarine torpedo tube-launched Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile was conducted at the Navy's missile range off the coast of southern California March 26. Launched from the Los Angeles-Class attack submarine USS Pasadena (SSN-752), the missile transitioned to cruise flight and flew a satellite-guided 635-nautical mile test flight to the NAVAIR Land Range at the NAVAIR Weapons Division in China Lake, CA. Test parameters included a successful re-direction of the missile in flight to an alternate flight...

With the addition of more than 21,000 combat troops being sent to Iraq plus the president's recent declaration to kill or capture Iranian Revolutionary Guard-Quds members these actions could be seen as a first step in addressing the Iranian problem. Further, the raid and capture of Iranian agents in the compound of Iraqi Shia leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim certainly reinforces that premise. The Iranian problem has been building for more than 27 years, manifested by the regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini conducting numerous attacks against the United States. First in November 1979, the radical "students" and possibly the current Iranian...

NORFOLK -– A military judge today sentenced Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann to 12 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge for espionage, desertion and other crimes. The 22-year-old submariner from Salem, Ore. admitted guilt to the offenses earlier this week at Norfolk Naval Station in a plea agreement that spared him the maximum potential penalty of life in prison with no possibility of parole. Weinmann, who deserted from the submarine Albuquerque in July 2005 after becoming disillusioned with the Navy, passed classified information about the Tomahawk cruise missile system to the Russians, according to a Pentagon source....

Viper-powered Tomahawk to be offered for sale Remember the Tomahawk, which debuted a few years ago on the auto show circuit? Maybe a better question would be: How could you forget it? There had been some speculation that it might actually see limited production, and apparently the-powers-that-be at DaimlerChrysler have given the green light. The 500 hp V-10 Frankencycle will be marketed as the Chrysler (not Dodge) Tomahawk, and will cost a cool $250,000, give or take a few pennies... Don't forget to check out the video on this site. I found it interesting in that they didn't show it...

NEW YORK (WCBS-AM) -- A Tomahawk Cruise Missile being transported south on I-95 this morning ended up in the middle of the highway near the Bronx. The missile was being shipped from Rhode Island to a Virginia naval installation when the truck broke down. The truck carrying the missile was then rear ended by another tractor trailer, sending the missile out onto the highway in its protective case. Check out Tom Kaminski's photos of the scene from Chopper 880. The New York City Police Department has confirmed that one of the vehicles was carrying "inert ordnance." WCBS reporter Sean Adams...

The Pentagon authorizes the sale to Spain of cruise missiles Tomahawk Rumsfeld communicates by letter the minister Bono who the operation has green light BALD JOSE MANUEL - Washington THE COUNTRY - SPAIN - 21-07-2005 The Pentagon sent the last week to the Spanish Ministry of Defense the green light so that Spain can acquire cruise missiles Tomahawk, that they only have, in addition of the Armed Forces to the United States, those of the United Kingdom. The request of the Tomahawk was formulated by the previous Government and yes it finishes taking place by means of a letter of...

Navy Accepts Tactical Tomahawk to Fleet By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2004 – The Navy has placed another arrow in its quiver as it celebrated the acceptance of the Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile to the fleet during ceremonies at the Pentagon today. John Young, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, speaks at the acceptance ceremonies for the Tactical Tomahawk missile at the Pentagon Sept. 29. Photo by Jim Garamone(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available. John Young, Navy assistant secretary, called the missile system "an elegant solution" that adds new...

Few would argue that the Dodge Tomahawk defies common sense. After all, who needs a motorcycle that reaches a top speed of more than 250 mph, cranks out 525 hp, and goes from 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds? Moreover, who needs a vehicle that – if it ever reaches full-scale production – could be priced at a staggering $250,000? Obviously, no one needs it. But the Tomahawk isn't about need, and it certainly isn't about common sense. "My first reaction to this idea was that it didn't seem like the most intelligent use of power," says Mark Walters, the DaimlerChrysler...